Russia reportedly hacking NATO soldiers’ smartphones

Russia has been reportedly hacking the personal smartphones of NATO soldiers deployed to eastern Europe, the Wall Street Journal reported citing Western military officials.

The campaign has targeted the contingent of 4,000 NATO troops deployed this year to Poland and the Baltic states to protect the alliance’s European border with Russia, as tensions with Moscow are on the rise, the officials were quoted as s.

According to the report, Russia has carried out a campaign to compromise soldiers’ smartphones to gain operational information, gauge troop strength and intimidate soldiers.

The report confirmed at least six individual soldiers who have suffered hacks, ranging from a compromised Facebook account to a phony “Find my iPhone” request. Another attack seemed to indicate a Stingray-like device harvesting contact information and deleting data from nearby phones.

According to the officials, the nature of the hack suggests state-level coordination since the equipment used, such as sophisticated drones equipped with surveillance electronics, is beyond the reach of most civilians. They added that they have no doubt Russia is behind the campaign.

The Russian Defense Ministry didn’t respond to the allegations and Russian officials deny that Moscow stages such attacks.